The Grand Festival of Love
by PsOhKiEpMpOeNr9
Summary: Ash has invited friends to join his Unova journey with only one yes response. He gets a nightmare and decides to ensure her safe arrival. When the ship arrives though, an unwanted presence waits with May to leave the ship. Contestshipping, Advanceshipping.
1. Chapter 1

Those That Dream

Ash Ketchum, a dreamer of being the best, has been on a journey for a few years now. He has accomplished h in his travels. No one recognizes his tan skin or raven hair. They don't know him by his hazel eyes or his white hat. No one sees him as the kid with the white and blue hoodie or with jeans. He has sent out messages to his friends, asking them if anyone would join him in his travels through the Unova Region. He sat in the Pokémon Center, on a bench near the entrance. The yellow walls were comforting, slightly. Plus all Pokémon Centers and gyms offered free Wi-Fi.

They all rejected his offer, like he expected. Most people had found their own path in life. Suddenly, a new message appeared in his box. It was from the one person who hadn't answered yet. May Maple, one of the girls he had traveled with so long ago. She reminded him so much of himself, it wasn't even funny.

He opened his messages to find that she said, and I quote, "Sounds great. Seems like a good change after beating Johto. By the way, I have a new change of clothes. I think you'll like." Awesome! This meant that he would be alone in the new world with people that treated him like he was an idiot.

She said she would be into town by tomorrow. He got up and walked over to Cilan and Iris. "Hey guys, we're gonna have to stay in town for a few more days."

"Why?" Iris asked. She was a girl of dark complexion with wild, long, purple hair. She wore a plain tan shirt and shorts. Cilan had green hair and eyes. He usually wore your average butler's outfit with a red bowtie. That interested Ash, Cilan wanted to be a cook, but dressed like a butler.

"A friend messaged me and said they would be in town tomorrow." He answered vaguely. So we got a room from Nurse Joy and decided to stay in there that night.

While he slept, he dreamt of a beautiful sunny field. May sat on a rock that jutted from the field. She looked towards him and smiled. She wore a simple pink dress that came all the way down her legs. He started to walk closer, but was stopped when she screamed out.

Something had grabbed her leg and was pulling her into the field. He could only watch in terror as she was torn from the rock down among the flowers that seemed to bend over her, laughing. He ran towards her and cleared out the flowers to see that the grass was bare.

Then, a gruesome completely pitch black demon with green hair, claws, and razor teeth shot up at him. In the split second before things went white, he realized that the face had a wicked smile on it. One beady red eye stared straight at him, sending a chill through his body. His green hair covered the other eye. Things cleared away with a few minutes to show a whole new field.

The sky was gray covered with an overcast of clouds. Beams of light struggled to find their way through the clouds to enlighten the trashed field. The grass was gray and dead. The flowers were all withering or charred. A single ring of live flowers surrounded the rock. When Ash looked on top of the rock, he nearly vomited onto his shoes.

Sitting on the rocks, with its legs tucked under its arms to form a ball, sat a bony May. Her head was down among her arms, sobbing. Her arms and legs seemed to be letting her flesh whip in the wind. Her head trembled as she picked her head up. It was out of pure weakness. She stood from the rocks, and they started running/limping towards each other. Just before Ash could reach her, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Her body collapsed onto the ground, cold as ice. Standing just behind where she stood was the creature from before. His hand was extended out and his palm facing so that it was against the back of her head. "SHE'S MINE." It growled coldly.

Ash turned to run away, but the creature slipped into his shadow. The claws of his shadow reached around him, while the monster's head leaned on his shoulder. "Now it's your turn." The creature's hands grabbed onto the Ash's cheeks and started to tug. He pulled and pulled as Ash could feel his world coming apart. He heard the popping and crackling from the dislodging of his jaw.

He woke up with his heart pounding, head throbbing, and the time was only three in the morning. The others were sleeping soundly while he couldn't sleep for more than 5 minutes at a time. He eventually quit and started rocking back and forth.

**OOOOO**

The next morning, the others awoke to see the tired eyed Ash in the corner of the room. He had scratched his arms up badly during the night whenever he recounted the nightmare. The blood had dried down his arms, but he didn't seem to care anymore.

He stood up and walked out, not even bothering to cover his arms. He walked out thoughtlessly as he passed groups of people. They looked at him for only a second, and then quickly looked away after seeing his arms. He walked all the way down to the docks and leaned up against a light pole near the water's edge. There, he waited for a good 2 hours without even considering his hunger or sanity. He just wanted to make sure May would arrive safely.

He eventually saw his friends walk up from behind and stand next to him. They handed him some food and he held it in his hands for a few minutes before Cilan said, "Ash, is something wrong?" Ash grunted in response and they let it be.

He slowly ate the breakfast burrito and watched as May's ship pulled into port. He saw her long before she noticed him. She wore a white open jacket with a black shirt under it. Her bandanna was white with a pink half Poke ball on it, similar in design to his blue one. She had shorts on with black and pink shoes.

Then, he saw something that reawakened all the fear in his heart. Standing next to her with his hand in hers, was Drew. For some reason, he had crutches and a bruise on his , another pang of fear struck him as he realized that Drew bared resemblance to the demon in his nightmare. That was what he meant by 'She's mine.' Drew looked over at Ash, and he seemed to have a similar reaction.

**OOOOO**

**The day before…**

Drew was walking by his girlfriend, May, and noticed that she was messaging someone online. He asked gingerly, "Hey baby, what are you doing?"

"Oh, I just received a message from an old friend." May answered sweetly. Her beauty was unequaled. The message was asking her if she would join someone in Unova.

"That sounds great. I've been getting bored around here with the Grand Festival over." Drew said as he lifted a cup of coffee to his lips. He had always seen himself as attractive. He had changed clothes since he was in Hoenn. He now wore a black sweater with purple cargo pants. The sweater was tight to express his muscles that had developed.

She responded with a yes and they packed up. They left for the port and picked up two tickets for the first ship to Unova. As the ship drifted into the distance, Drew began feeling seasick for an unexplainable reason. "I'm going back to the room to sleep this off." He said as he turned around from the deck's railing. He walked back into the room and closed the door. He lied down and quickly drifted into a seemingly peaceful sleep.

He suddenly woke up walking with May on the same beach he asked her out on in Johto. It was sunset and the ocean appeared as an orange and blue mix and mash. They approached a pier with rides and attractions. No one was walking on the beach or the pier.

They walked down the docks so peacefully. When they reached the end of the pier, they stood there, watching the Pokémon frolic in the water and air. Suddenly, something similar to an angel flew over them so fast, the entire pier rattled.

It flew up and whipped around to face them. The only difference between an angel and this creature was the fact it was extremely pale and had _black, _feathered wings. It's raven hair whipped in the summer breeze and his toned, bare chest flexed. It forcefully flapped its wings and blew Drew over the pier's edge. He fell into the water, where a Sharpedo bit at his knee. He screamed in pain as the creature plucked May off the docks. As it carried her away, it called out, "All you were ever doing was keeping her warm for me."

Suddenly, another girl walked towards the edge and peered down at him. He could feel the Sharpedo tugging at his leg. It was Solidad. "Please, Solidad, help me!" Drew screamed out. She looked at him with a crude smirk and pushed a garbage can over the edge towards him. He instinctively caught it and plunged under the cold water. There, the fierce Sharpedo opened its jaws and _snap!_

He woke up on the bed; his face was against the nightstand. He must have rolled over or the ship might have been swaying. He looked down at his left knee. It had slammed against the wall forcefully. It was bleeding onto the bed. He tried to dress the wound the best he could, and limped out of the room. He grabbed a couple of shuffleboard sticks and used them as crutches as he stumbled to the infirmary. He opened the door to face the nurses before dropping out unconscious from blood loss.

He woke up later in the morning with May standing near him. "Thank Arceus your okay." She said as she helped him out of bed. He had a cast on his leg and official crutches. He went back outside to see the bags outside of the infirmary and them about to reach the docks. He limped out and approached the line to leave the ship. He looked over and a shot of both fear and for some reason, jealousy flowed through his veins.

That 'angel' that took her was Ash. He became determined to keep them apart as much as possible. He put his hand into hers and squeezed lightly. Then he noticed some scratch marks on his arms. He didn't know what they meant, but he seemed stricken in fear like him.

**Chapter 1 completed. This is going to get heated in the contest for May's love.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ash was terrified at this revelation. He watched them walk down the plank onto the docks, hand in hand the entire time. As she approached him, she saw his arms and looked disgusted. Drew smirked in satisfaction. "Umm… Ash. This is Drew, as you know. We're dating." Deep in his mind, Ash wanted to retch.

"I noticed. So how did that come along?" Ash asked as politely as he could. He looked at Drew and saw that his clothes expressed his newly toned muscles. His eye twitched his displeasure at the sight.

"Well, we had been traveling for a while, and he stopped with the childish treatment. That really opened a new world for us. He asked me out on a pier in Johto." May explained. At the sound of _pier, _Drew appeared to have cringed slightly. They looked at each other and smiled. Drew lightly kissed her on the lips. Ash desperately wanted to tear those lips right off Drew's face.

"That's great." Ash lied. "Let's get back to the Pokémon Center so we can pack up and head out of town." They trotted off towards the Center. Ash looked in the corner of his eye as people glanced at him. He wasn't worried with them so much as he wanted to know what May and Drew were doing behind him.

They arrived at the Center and walked in. Ash picked up his bag and put on his hoodie. The warm heat generated and held within the hoodie began to make his arms feel better. Iris and Cilan walked in and they greeted each other. Iris and Cilan seemed to be watching Drew, seeing the hideous bruise and cast. Iris asked, "So… what happened to you Drew?"

Drew answered swiftly, "I fell on the ship." No one questioned his answer.

May later asked, "What did you do to your arms Ash?" Everyone stopped as if they all wondered too.

"Well… I had accidentally rubbed my arms against the metal railing during the night." He stated nonchalantly.

They ventured outside and started out of town. As we approached the wilderness, we arranged into a line. From left to right, it was Cilan, Iris, May, Drew, and Ash. Drew seemed to be keeping Ash away from her. He also kept nudging me away from him.

One time, he nudged me into a tree and May said, "Come on Ash; get up. We don't have time to play around." Ash grumbled under his voice and stood up. I nudged Drew and he yelped like he had been hurt. "What's wrong with you?" May asked him. Ash looked down as he cursed under his breath. Drew looked directly at Ash and smirked.

They approached a new Pokémon they hadn't ever seen. It was a Chandelure. "Guys, get away from that!" They looked at me as if they didn't believe me. It started to lift Drew up. He looked amazed at the mental strength. Pikachu watched in fear as Ash ran towards the scene. Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and covered his eyes. Ash charged the group, and rammed his way through the group. The Chandelure freaked and dropped Drew on his bad leg.

"Ow! Shit!" Drew said as he clutched his cast. Ash turned around and commanded Pikachu to thunder bolt the Chandelure. The signature yellow bolt shot through the air, crackling like popcorn. It struck the Chandelure as May was down on the ground with Drew who was pulling out his Pokédex. His eyes darted back and forth as he read the entry, then widened when he finished. May seemed to look in fright, comparing the picture with the unconscious creature before them.

The entry stated the basic facts of the creature. It would normally appear after death, then capture and burn the soul to fuel itself before leaving the remains to wander the earth forever. They looked at me in unison, with a new respect. Iris and Cilan came out from behind a bush.

They looked at each other before deciding to just get down the road and they continued. They saw more Pokémon and the couple happily listened to the words of the other three. As they approached the next city, May seemed more distant from Drew. Drew had noticed it as well, and was pissed at his backfiring plan.

After they entered the city, the group decided to get a room in the Pokémon Center and stay so they could beat the gym and take part in the contest. Ash was psyched at his chance to show off his new skills to May and Drew. May had walked out of the room to shop with Iris and Cilan went to help with the feeding time of injured Pokémon. That had left Drew and Ash in the room, staring coldly at each other.

Drew spoke out first, saying "You aren't getting her from me. She was mine first, and mine for good."

"Look at yourself, you've nearly gone crazy with some idea. You're probably just going to chase her off without trying." Ash said. Drew shoved his crutch at the ground, slamming it into Ash's foot. May and Iris were walking down the hallway to the room. Ash flipped out then and punched Drew's cast. He yelped out like a child. He was facing the door and Ash had his back to it. Drew swung his crutch wide and struck Ash's right leg. He fell to one knee, rubbing the other one with his knees. He then stood up and grabbed Drew's crutches. Using momentum, he shoved the crutches into the air, sending Drew back. May walked in the room to see Drew flying across the room and Ash standing over him.

"Ash!" May screeched from behind him. He turned to see May staring wide-eyed. "What have you done? I just don't want to be around you right now." She ran off behind the door, stopping after just exiting the room. Iris had stopped her to try and comfort her. Ash looked towards the door in disbelief. Drew was stumbling up, laughing his head off loudly.

"See, all I had to do was push you, and you did my job for me!" He said loudly. Then, May and Iris walked back in front of the door. May was giving Drew a death stare. Iris looked disapprovingly at Drew. He shrunk back into the corner, trying to pretend he didn't say anything.

"So you set this up?" May screamed. Drew knew he was caught and nodded slightly. "I should have expected that from you. Ash wouldn't have acted like that on his own. Someone had to be instigating his actions." May appeared steamed. I looked her directly in the eyes while Drew was staring around in the distance, trying to keep from breaking down like his plan did. "I don't want to be around either of you." She said plainly before she walked out.

"Wait May!" Ash said.

May called back, "No! I need time to think about you children. You've been fighting over me like 8 year olds." Iris looked at us like we were children that deserved a good beating.

"May, I'm coming with you." Iris said as she left the area. Something suddenly struck a chord in Ash's mind. What Drew was doing was wrong, but him deciding to react to it like that was just as bad. Drew had been acting like a child hiding his favorite toy, and Ash had reacted like a child by trying to return the same anger instead of doing something responsible. Had he learned nothing from this?

All he could do now was let these thoughts bubble and hope that Drew had learned something as well, because what they learned might just decide her next boyfriend.

**OOOOO**

Meanwhile, all Drew could think about was the utter failure of his plans. He knew how he screwed up. He had let his pride consume him with his victory. He blurted out is plans. He was sure that Ash already knew his intentions, but he couldn't hold in his pride any longer. Plus, he practically had to restart when Ash had saved his life, because that had made her respect Ash almost instantly. His pure hate for Ash Ketchum consumed his mind, keeping him from learning anything of value from the experience.

**OOOOO**

Iris had caught up with May in the lobby. She couldn't believe the way that Drew had been sliding behind their backs. She had also known Ash long enough to know he would react that way. He hadn't really done any maturing. He acted like a child around her, so that was how she treated him.

She saw the displeasure in May's eyes. A twinkle of hate shone in the pupil of her eyes. Iris saw everything May had felt without even saying a word. She was steaming in her thoughts. Iris couldn't understand what would have caused the behavior from either. Ash understood that Drew was May's boyfriend. Drew should've known that Ash wouldn't have tried something with him dating May. She was just so curious. Iris could barely control herself from asking May what she was going to do.

May just looked at her, trapped in deep thought. Iris was getting up when May grabbed her arm. She said, "I've made my decision." They got up and walked back into the room. Ash looked at her with deep, worried eyes. Drew just seemed unemotionally cool, like normal.


	3. The end

Chapter 3 (Finale)

Ash couldn't bear seeing May in the state she was in. Her face was red and puffy from crying. Her eyes seemed to boil with indecision. Worry seemed to control her body, because her arms hung limp, her back slightly slouched.

Iris seemed to still be in a state of shock. Her face showed that she didn't understand the issues boiling between them. He could tell that from the way she looked at them, a confused face with jittery hands.

Drew, was sitting on his bed, staring seemingly unemotional, as if he didn't care the results. He knew it was too late to redeem himself. Ash could see that Drew ultimately knew he had failed. His fingers were wiggling around and his legs were shaking in fear.

May walked forward and asked Drew a fairly simple question. "Drew, what have you learned from crossing behind my back?"

Drew stuttered slowly, "Umm… Well… I have learned that next time, I… should hide my pride a bit better instead of umm… revealing the truth before you leave." He smiled lightly hoping he had gotten it right. May just looked at him and shook her head. She seemed to want to laugh and instead quickly slapped him. He lifted a hand to his cheek in disbelief.

He stood up and back handed her so quickly, she fell on her back. Iris held her hand to her mouth, while May started to tear up on the floor. As she cried onto the floor, Cilan walked back into the room. He looked around and saw the situation. He glared at Ash, who scooted back in his seat. He then noticed Drew, standing over May, smiling down at her triumphantly.

Drew then realized what he had done and dropped his hand, his smile dropping into a gaping mouth of self-induced shock. He fell back onto the floor, worried out of his mind. Ash decided to take the chance to get up and pull her up from the floor. Cilan was speechless and just decided to lead Iris from the room. Ash helped May over to the bunk across from the one Drew scrambled to.

His hands were over his ears and he was curled up in a ball on the bed. Ash had his right arm around May and his left hand holding her left hand on her left thigh. She looked up and smiled slightly. "You always did know how to perk me up. Have you learned anything from this?"

"Yes," Ash said solemnly, "I have learned that you have to be able to see past one's lies and push through the obstacles and hatred to reach the ultimate goal. You need to see to the future and learned the consequences of your actions. Until you can see into your future and through inference of actions, you can't live like a real person."

"It seems that you've learned something of value." May stated, "I never expected you come up with something like that." Drew only began to cry louder from his failure. "Drew, it's over between us. You might as well get a ship heading for Johto."

"But we had love between us." Drew managed to whine out.

"You tore that love apart by hurting me, both physically and emotionally, Drew." May said.

"You know what? I'm already famous, so I don't need you!" Drew screamed as he got on his crutches and headed for the door. "For all I care, you can go die!" He limped out the door.

Ash and May walked out to see Drew limping for the entrance and stepping on a little Stunfisk, which smiled and sent a jolt of power up his good leg. He proceeded to jump off of it and cuss out both the Pokémon and the small child that owned it. While the kid was crying, Drew crutched out of the building with Nurse Joy yelling at him. He reached the port and got a ticket for any other region.

May and Ash both walked out to the dock and watched as Drew limped with his luggage up onto the boat and got his room. He then approached the side for departure. As the ship headed out, May waved him out of her life for good. She received the finger. As the ship sailed from view, May gave Ash a long kiss and a silent thank you.

"So where's that ship headed anyway?" Ash asked, "I was never good with directions."

"Based on trajectory, I'd say he's going to meet my other rival Harley over in the Sinnoh region, so that's not the last we're going to hear of him." May explained this while she twirled some of her own hair. She gave Ash a tight hug while he kissed her cheek.

"I can only imagine what's going on with Drew right now." May said.

**OOOOO**

Meanwhile, Drew was getting ready to have a meal on the ship. As one butler approached his room, he resembled someone he knew. Then, with a smirk, "I'm Cilan and I while be cooking and serving you on this trip."

"Oh no." Drew said under his breathe. "So what's this meal's cuisine?" Drew asked politely.

"Oh, I think you'll love it. It is a slab of rib eye slathered in sautéed mushrooms and onions served with a house salad and loaded baked potato." Cilan droned out calmly. Drew cautiously removed the cover to see his steak rare and bleeding, the salad to be wilting away and the loaded potato was stuffed with ants.

"Disgusting!" Drew said.

"Rule number one about being having your cook as a butler, don't insult the food, because it can always come back worse." Cilan said. He left and returned a while later. The steak was now well overdone, the mushrooms hard like rocks with the sauté sauce just gone, the onions rubbery, the salad probably completely killed off, and the potato looked like it barely survived the potato famine of Ireland.

After that horrible experience, his personal activities director approached him. This was Iris, and she looked ready for revenge. "Nooooo!" Drew screamed out as he stuck one fist into the sky.


End file.
